Artist of the Week: Eels

Here's the deal, when I got up this morning, I didn't know who was gonna be my Artist of the Week. I was thinking about it last night, but couldn't come up with anything. So this morning I got up, made myself some s'mores for breakfast and then started watching TV with my sister who was watching Along Came Polly. It's a pretty funny movie starting Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston. One of the things I enjoyed about the movie was the music. With songs like Bob Marley's Jammin' and Beck's Lost Cause, what's not to love. But there's one song in the movie that I really love. It's one of those songs that after hearing it, you're always in a good mood. That song being the "Eel's Mr. E's Beautiful Blues".

If you're not familiar with the Eels, he's a quick history lesson. The band was formed in 1995 when Mark Oliver Everett aka E and drummer Jonathan "Butch" Norton met Tommy Walter. They were one of the first bands to sign with Dreamworks and in 1996 they released they're debut album Beautiful Freak. With their melancholy sound and their first single "Novocaine for the Soul", the band was able to achieve moderate success. One of the songs My beloved Monster was even featured in the Shrek Soundtrack. While writing their next album, E experienced a very bad time in his life. Several of his friends died, his sister committed suicide and his mom was diagnosed with cancer. With all that, the band's second album Electro-Shock Blues became a really dark album. While it didn't have much commercial success, the album is still considered a fan favorite. In 2000, the band released their next album Daisies of the Galaxy. This is the album that has my favorite song from the band, that being "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues". Since then, the band has released three more albums and just recently a greatest hits album. They've had songs in American Beauty, Road Trip, all three Shrek movies and the show Scrubs. With all that, if you still say that you've never heard them, all I can say is LIAR!!!! But just in case you've been living on the moon or something, I can help you out. That being said, this week's artist is the Eels with their video Mr. E's Beautiful Blues, enjoy.